![]() ![]() Sri Lankan culture is very traditional, in which the fathers rule their families even though they have very little to do with the daily lives of their family members. Racism exists between the former white, Dutch colonists and the natives of Sri Lanka, and between the Sri Lankans themselves by way of the Sinhalese and Tamils. As Arjie grows, his parents continue to do what they can to 'man up' their son, worried that he may turn out to be gay.Īs Arjie grows, he comes to learn about the intolerance, racism, and unfairness of the world in which he lives. This deeply embarrasses Arjie’s parents, Appa and Amma, who insist he no longer play with the girls. He wears women’s clothing and puts on women’s makeup as a child, leading his family to label him “funny” and to make fun of him. When the novel begins, Arjie is seven years old, and realizes he enjoys spending more time with his female cousins than his male cousins. ![]() “Funny Boy” is a gay young adult novel by Shyam Selvadurai that recounts the childhood and teenage years of Arjie as he discovers he is gay while growing up in Sri Lanka in the late 1970s and early 1980s. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |